


He has me, and I have him.

by Savvylicious



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, M/M, Mourning, Sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-01-15
Packaged: 2018-03-07 16:38:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3177209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savvylicious/pseuds/Savvylicious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frodo wakes his uncle from a nap and asks him about a name he heard while Bilbo was drowsing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He has me, and I have him.

"Uncle?"

Deft little hands shook him from his light slumber and it was with a grumpier sigh that Bilbo opened his eyes. Frodo smiled from his lap, pulling the leaves from his shoulders. "You fell asleep!"

"I hadn’t noticed," The older remarked, dryly.

"I like to take naps here too. Sometimes. Like when you’re at market."

"Is that so?" Bilbo sat straight, pulling Frodo closer with a gentle squeeze. He’d grown very fond of Drogo’s boy, fond enough to adopt him anyway. But it wasn’t as if he’d been without pity. Afterall, he knew what it was like to lose one’s parents. "Better than getting into trouble I suppose."

Frodo giggled and turned his head into Bilbo’s neck, shifting until he was more comfortable. “Uncle?”

"Hm?"

"Who is Thorin?"

Bilbo felt himself stiffen and Frodo seemed to notice his discomfort. The smaller Hobbit pulled back and turned his bright eyes upwards, mouth worrying into a frown.

"I’m sorry Uncle, I didn’t mean to upset you."

"No, no, no." Bilbo fretted, not wanting the boy to think he’d done something wrong. "It’s alright. You just… You surprised me is all. Where did you hear that name?"

"You said it a lot when you were sleeping. Are they your friend?"

_I wish to part from you in friendship._

Bilbo felt his lips twitch. If it was a smile or a frown he could not tell. Frodo looked nonetheless curious, so he decided on how best to tell the boy of the dwarf that had changed his once quiet life.

"Yes Frodo. He was my friend." A pained smiling now, and he must have looked upset because Frodo squeezed him tighter. "You remember I told you once that I went on an adventure?"

"With dragons and wizards and elves and dwarves."

Bilbo chuckled, smoothing some of Frodo’s wayward curls back, “Yes, and more. Thorin was the leader of our company. He was my very dear friend. And while he was proud and stubborn as an ox, he was without a doubt, the greatest and most honorable man I will ever have the misfortune of knowing.”

"Misfortune?"

Frodo’s bewilderment was only so endearing but Bilbo thought it unfair to go on. Selfish he knew, but he’d rather keep the past where it was.

"He almost wasn’t. He almost succumbed to a terrible darkness. I loathe to admit that I almost wish he had. It might be easier now, to speak of him, if my memories of him were foul."

"Did he do something bad Uncle?"

Bilbo laughed, void of any kind of amusement. Thorin had done something horrible. Something terrible and cruel. Something he’d never be forgiven for. Frodo, wise beyond his age, watched him somberly. "He…"

It wasn’t until Bilbo felt soft hands on his cheeks that he realised he’d started crying. He let his neck bow, allowing Frodo the chance to comfort him. 

"Did he go somewhere you couldn’t follow?"

Bilbo nodded, fingers clutching at the back of the boy’s vest.

"So you miss him." Frodo offered him a lopsided smile, "It’s okay to be sad then. I cried a lot when Mama and Papa went away too. I was also really mad that they left me for a really long time. But now I have you, so I’m not so mad at them anymore."

"I miss him something terrible Frodo. I’ve a hole where my heart should be and nothing but this tree and some gold to remember him by."

Frodo wiped his cheeks and then let his hands fall back down to Bilbo’s shoulders.

"It’s not enough… And I don’t understand. Why I live and he does not. I should be grateful, and yet I hate him for it."

The younger Baggins couldn’t possibly understand the complexities of the heart at his age, but he wasn’t blind. Frodo squished himself forward into Bilbo’s chest and smiled at the oak tree that grew tall and strong at their backs. "I suppose I’ll be grateful for us both then! Thank you, Thorin. I’m very grateful Uncle Bilbo came back from adventuring okay because now I’m not on my own. Also I’m very sorry you had to go away and leave, but don’t worry. Uncle Bilbo isn’t alone anymore. He has me, and I have him, and we’ll be together until the day we both go see you and my parents in the West."

And if Bilbo was sobbing, Frodo made no mention of it, because even though the both of them were so terribly empty, they knew that at least there was some comfort and love to be found in each other.


End file.
